Game apparatus comprising a game piece value comparator



Dec. 2, 1969 J. c. FAN 3,481,604

GAME APPARATUS COMPRISING A GAME PIECE VALUE COMPARATOR Filed June 13.1967 INVENTOR JOHN C. FAN

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent US. Cl. 273-131 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA game apparatus has game pieces of dilferent value. The markingsindicating the value of each game piece are placed so as to be hiddenfrom the view of the opposing player. Each game piece has an electricalparameter indicative of its value. Two game pieces may be electricallycompared to ascertain which piece has the higher marking withoutvisually inspecting the markings. In one form of the apparatus,comparison is effected by means of electrically interconnected sets ofcontacts on the game board. In another form, the pieces are placed oncontacts carried by a separate comparison instrument.

This invention relates to a game apparatus and more particularly anapparatus for electrically determining the relative values of competinggame pieces.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a game format,susceptible of many variations, in which the competing game pieces havecharacteristic ranks or values which can be compared electricallywithout revealing the absolute rank or value of the game pieces.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a game apparatushaving ranked game pieces as hereinafter described, together with a gameboard capable of being electrically connected to a comparator fordetermining the relative values of game pieces during game play, withoutrevealing the absolute rank or value of the higher ranked game pieces.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a gameapparatus comprising game pieces having dilferent resistance values, agame board with electrical connections connecting the game pieces to acomparator for comparing the electrical resistances of opposing gamepieces during game play.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel and interestingstrategic type of game wherein uncertainty and therefore interestaccompanies the game play.

Other objects and advantages accompanying the game apparatus of thisinvention will become apparent from the hereinafter containeddescription.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in thedrawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood,however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangementsand instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a preferred game board embodiment ofthe present invention, together with a comparator.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary exploded view of the game board of FIGURE 1with game pieces.

FIGURE 3 is a partially broken-away perspective view of a game pieceaccording to the present invention.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of an alternatively shaped game piece,according to this invention.

Patented Dec. 2, 1969 FIGURE 5 is a schematic electrical circuit diagramof a typical comparator circuit.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of an alternative game piece comparatorwith built-in electrical contacts.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, there is shown in FIGURE 1 atypical game board 10 used in the game apparatus of the presentinvention. The game board 10 is provided on its face with a grid patterntypical of many strategic-type games, such as checkers, chess, and thelike. Each of the squares, of which square 12 is representative, isprovided with two pairs of pin sockets, designated as sockets 14 andsockets 16.

A comparator 20 is shown attached to the game board 10. Comparator 20includes an indicator 22 and circuit balancing adjustment knobs 24 and26 together with switch 28. FIGURE 6 shows an alternative comparator 20having contact pairs 44 and 46.

In the fragmentary exploded view of FIGURE 2, the game board square 12is indicated with sockets 14 and 16. Sockets 14 are interconnected byconductors and 52. Sockets 16 are interconnected by conductors 54 and56. Game piece 30 is shown exploded above square 12 and constructed withdepending pins 32 and 34 for engagement in sockets 14 or 16. The othergame pieces illustrated on the game board 10 are generally identical inappearance. The darker game pieces will be referred to by the referencecharacter 30 while the lighter game pieces will be referred to as 35.Game pieces 30' and 35' occupying square 18 will be fully discussedhereinafter.

FIGURES 3 and 4 illustrate two shapes that the game pieces used with thecomparator of FIGURE 6 can take. In FIGURE 3, an electrical resistor 40is shown disposed within a game piece 30 and connected to exposedelectrical connectors 42 for contacting contacts 44 or 46. FIGURE 4shows an alternative shape for a game piece 48.

The circuit diagram of FIGURE 5 shows schematically how the variouscomponents of the comparator are assembled in a Wheatstone bridge.Balancing knobs 24 and 26 on comparator 20 of FIGURE 1 respectivelycontrol variable resistances 24 and 26' in FIGURE 5. The indicator 22 isshown connecting the top and bottom of the bridge. The switch 28completes the circuit through the battery. Fixed resistances 58 and 60are attached at the positions indicated in FIGURE 5 and greaterresistance at one position than at the other will cause an imbalance inthe circuit which is immediately read on the indicator. The indicatorcan be calibrated to indicate the heavier piece as will be more fullydescribed hereinafter.

The rules of movement for the game pieces may, of course, vary. However,for purposes of illustration we can assume rules similar to checkerswhere each game piece may move horizontally vertically or diagonally onespace in any direction. Assuming for purposes of illustration that adark game piece 30' is to be moved into square 18, and this square isoccupied by lighter game piece 35', the following sequence would beemployed. The comparator 20, with the switch 28 closed to complete thecircuit, would be balanced by adjusting the resistances 24 and 26' bymovement of the balancing knobs 24 and 26. Balance is efiected bycomparing all righthand sockets on the board with all lefthand sockets.Resistance 58 represents all righthand sockets while resistance 60represents all lefthand sockets. When the circuit is in balance and theindicator 22 is stable, lighter game piece 35 would be moved from thelefthand sockets in square 18 to the righthand sockets (the positionshown in FIGURE 2). The darker game piece 30' competing for occupationof square 18 would then be moved from the previous square occupied toengage the lefthand pin sockets of square 18. If the darker game piece30 has a different resistance than game piece 35 indicator 22 will bedeflected. By balancing the cornparator 20 before each move, it willmake no difference how many pieces remain on the board during the playfor the comparison to be valid. Likewise, since the comparison is gainedby differences in resistance only, comparing a dark game piece with allthe white game pieces and comparing a white game piece with all the darkgame pieces, will still provide an indication of the relative differencebetween the two pieces competing for the single square 18. Adopting thismethod of play, the comparator 20 can be calibrated to indicate whichgame piece,

dark or light, wins each contested square. This method of operation alsoavoids disclosing the absolute weights or resistance values of theindividual pieces being compared.

Alternatively, the circuit connections under the socket pairs on theboard can be arranged by sections instead of by the entire board. Thatis, one column or one row of squares could have common connections toterminals which could be connected to a comparator similar to comparator20. In this manner, only the pieces occupying the given row or columnare cumulatively measured. In play, the opposing game piece would beremoved from the contested square and the comparator balanced. If thecontesting game piece is located in the same column or row, it, too,would have to be removed from its original square before the comparatoris balanced. After balancing, the competing pieces could be placed inthe same square in their normally proper positions. The comparatorindicator would then register directly which color game piece prevails.This method requires a different original calibration for the comparatorthan the previous method. This is because the opposing game pieces in acontested square will be in their normal socket positions rather than inreversed positions as in the previous method illustrated in FIGURE 2.Accordingly, calibration procedures for the two methods must take intoaccount the polarity of the deflection. The polarity will depend uponwhether the game pieces in the contested square are in their normal orreversed positions.

brought into contact with the conducting plates after the comparator wasbalanced and the winner would be directly indicated. This embodimentavoids the necessity for providing a game board with a plurality of pinsockets and associated circuitry. Likewise, the game pieces could beconstructed as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. That is, flush electricalconnections could be provided and a comparison accomplished by merelyplacing the electrical contacts on the pieces in contact with matchingconducting plates or surfaces on the external comparator. If thecomparison between two game pieces produces a very large or a very smalldeflection, the players will realize that there is a large difference ora small difference in value between the two pieces. Since each playerknows the value of his own piece, he would be able to approximate thevalue of the opposing piece. To insure that the variable deflection ofthe indicator would not provide a clue as to the absolute value of thecompeting game pieces, the comparator can be provided with additionalcircuitry (not shown) to give a non-variable indication of the winner.Such indication can be provided by small neon lamps or incandescentbulbs or the like, which would immediately indicate the imbalance in thebridge circuit. Such indicator could be labeled appropriately to signifythe color of the winning game piece.

The game apparatus of the present invention can be designed by oneskilled in the art to accommodate a wide variety of competitive games.Such games, generally of the strategic type, can be based on military,royal, sport, animal, or any other competitive activity involvingstrategies. Typically, the game pieces are identical in external shape,being distinguished by a difference in color or some otherdistinguishing feature of the set. Generally, two sets of game piecesindicating two different sides are employed, however, it will be readilyapparent to one skilled in the art that a larger number of sets can beaccommodated, providing for more than two opposing players.

The game apparatus of the present invention is capable of being adaptedto game play under a wide variety of rules. For example, the piecescould represent military equipment and the game determined by the firstplayer to successfully capture the opponents flag piece. Likewise, asports theme can be adopted, namely the number of pieces reaching theopponents end line could be reckoned as goals, touchdowns. baskets, orthe like.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms.

I claim:

1. A game apparatus for strategy games involving repetitive game piecemovement by at least two opposing game players, comprising a game board,a plurality of game pieces and a game piece comparator, wherein the gameboard is provided with a horizontal surface for receiving game piecesthereon, said surface having a pattern thereon designating game piecepositions on said game board and providing guidance for the distance anddirection of movement of the game pieces during game play, said gamepieces being divided into at least two sets of progressively ranked gamepieces, said sets characterized in that when one set of said game piecesis in play on said game board, an opposing game player cannot identifythe relative rank of some of said game pieces because such rank ishidden from the view of said opposing player; said game pieces beingmanipulated in accordance with game rules providing for elimination ofone game piece from a contested position on said game board whenchallenged by an opposing piece of higher rank, said game pieces beingprovided with non-visually detectable electrical characteristics ofdifferent values whereby the relative electrical characteristics of saidgame pieces can be compared by said game piece comparator to determinethe higher ranking game piece without disclosing the magnitude of suchrank.

2. The game apparatus of claim 1 wherein said electrical characteristiccomprises a resistor, said game pieces being provided with electricalcontacts connected to said resistor, and said comparator includingcontacts to receive said electrical contacts on said game pieces.

3. The game apparatus of claim 2 wherein said game piece comparator isan electrical resistance comparison device directly reading the highestranking game piece when at least two game pieces are compared.

4. The game apparatus of claim 1 wherein said game board furthercomprises two game piece receiving means at each position on said gameboard electrically connected with said comparator whereby the higherranking game piece occupying a contested board position is indicated.

5. The game apparatus of claim 1 wherein said electrical characteristicis provided by a circuit component having an impedance value and saidcomparator comprises means for comparing impedance values.

6. A game apparatus for strategy games involving repetitive game piecemovement by at least two opposing game players, comprising a pluralityof game pieces and a game piece comparator, said game pieces beingdivided into at least two sets of progressively ranked game pieces, saidsets characterized in that when one set of said game pieces is in play,an opposing game player cannot identify the relative rank of some ofsaid game pieces because such rank is hidden from the view of saidopposing player; said game pieces being manipulated in accordance withgame rules providing for elimination of one game piece from a contestedposition when challenged by an opposing piece of higher rank, said gamepieces being provided with nonvisually detectable electricalcharacteristics of different values whereby the relative electricalcharacteristics of said game pieces can be compared by said game piececomparator to determine the higher ranking game piece without disclosingthe magnitude of such rank.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 788,155 7/193 France.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner US. 01. X.R. 273-136, 137

